A bomb blast at a pro-Taliban seminary in Pakistan killed cleric Hamidul Haq and four others, injuring dozens. Authorities suspect a suicide attack, though no group has claimed responsibility.

A powerful bomb exploded at a mosque within a pro-Taliban seminary in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing a top cleric and four other worshippers while injuring dozens of others. The attack occurred just days before the fasting month of Ramadan, according to local police.

The blast took place in Akora Khattak, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, district police chief Abdul Rashid confirmed. Among the victims was Hamidul Haq, the head of a faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI) party. Rashid stated that officers are investigating the attack, and efforts are underway to transport the dead and wounded to hospitals for medical care.

Haq was the son of Maulana Samiul Haq, a prominent religious leader known as the "father of the Taliban," who was assassinated in a knife attack at his home in 2018. Haq’s family confirmed his death in the bombing and urged his followers to remain calm. He also led the Jamia Haqqania seminary, a well-known religious school where many Afghan Taliban members studied over the past two decades.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack and instructed authorities to ensure the best possible medical treatment for the wounded.

Zulfiqar Hameed, the provincial police chief, suggested that the bombing appeared to be a suicide attack, though bomb disposal experts are still conducting investigations. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Hameed indicated that Haq was the apparent target.

At the time of the explosion, more than a dozen police officers were stationed outside the mosque for security, in addition to the seminary’s own security personnel.

Pakistan has experienced a surge in violent attacks in recent years. In 2023, a suicide bombing targeted a mosque in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing 101 people, most of them police officers. Pakistani authorities have largely blamed the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), for many of the previous attacks.